The Blog

Work and success

Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, you ought to set up a life you don’t need to escape from.Seth Godin

One of the people who most inspires me is Seth Godin. Mr. Godin has written a daily blog for well over a decade (actually, the first one I can find is January 31, 2002!) while starting multiple successful business ventures and writing 22 books. His stature as a successful businessman, thought provoking leader, writer and thinker is not an accident. It is the result of him going back every day for decades to toil over his passions.

For most of us, there are times in life where work feels like drudgery, or where we know that our hearts are not in the work, or times when we simply know that the path we are on doesn’t feel like the right path. In my coaching practice, I often hear people talk about how the right path or opportunity will feel right, or feel easy, or will find them only doing things they love in their work.

What if success is really about doing the hardest things we are able to repeatedly until we arrive at our desired outcome? What if our success requires our commitment to doing really hard work for a really long time? What if it took as much hard work to retain success as it does to become successful? Would you still be willing to start that project, sell that product or open that business?

As I think about this, these are the questions that might be worth answering:

What work would you be willing to struggle for, day after day, in order to succeed?

How much energy and effort are you willing to commit to moving from where you are to where you see your future self?

What would you need to do to have the passion to continue committing to the work daily even if it took years or decades to achieve your desired outcome?

When you find the work you are willing to struggle over and spend energy, effort and passion on over days and years, you have found your work.